Traditional street performers predominantly belong to certain tribal communities and rely on knowledge that has been passed to them over centuries. It has become their way of life and is their sole source of livelihood. These individuals go through rigorous training from their early childhood days and start performing at a very nascent age. The streets in India were known to be bustling with various types of traditional street performers who would entertain the crowd with their skills and talents. It was one of the most engrossing sources of entertainment for the majority of the population. However, these performances have been criminalized under the provisions of numerous Anti-Beggary laws in India.

Section 2 (1)(i)(a) of The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959like 20 other Anti-Beggary Acts, provides that “Soliciting or receiving alms, in a public place whether or not under any pretense such as singing, dancing, fortune telling, performing or offering any article for sale” will be considered as begging.

By
equating these performances to begging and decriminalizing these performances,
Indian government has not only snatched away the only source of income that the
traditional street performers relied on, it also has the effect of degrading
these performances and in turn degraded the way of life of these performers.
These legislations have in fact disregarded the existing cultural diversity in
India and pushed the already marginalized communities to the fringes of the
society. As their skills cannot be legally used to earn their livelihood, many
of these community members have started taking up jobs such as rag-picking,
construction labour etc. which have no relation to their skills or
talents that they are trained in.

Judgment of
Delhi High Court – A step towards alleviating the situation of traditional
street performers

On a positive note, begging has
been decriminalized in the National Capital Territory of Delhi after two Public
Interest Litigations filed in the Delhi High Court
challenged the provisions of The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959 as it
was extended to the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

The
petitioners as well as the court primarily relied on Article 21 of the
Constitution of India which provides for the “Right to Life”. In India, the right to life has been understood to
be encapsulating at least the right to food, clothing, decent
environment and shelter. In the case of Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, the Supreme Court of India
laid down a comprehensive and inclusive definition for the right to live
with human dignity as is extended under the Article 21. It covered
the aspects relating to education, decent and humane conditions of work,
protection of health etc. and the court in the current case emphasized on these
aspects and observed that the Indian State has failed to provide even these
basic essentials.

The
fact that begging has been decriminalized in Delhi definitely provides some
relief to the traditional street performers in Delhi but it is pertinent to
emphasize that these performances should not even be equated with begging in
the very first place.

Conclusion

Even
if indirectly, this judgment upholds the rights of traditional street
performers to perform in public spaces and seek money in return as it takes
away the power of police authorities to arrest them without a warrant.
Therefore, if not any positive action, the judgment at least effectively
protects these performers from constant harassment and degrading treatment by
the police in the national capital. The government should take a cue from this
judgment and should at least make the distinction between traditional street
performances and begging which can then lead to creating policies, support and
regulatory mechanisms to encourage these performances.

Some
traditional street performers have come together to set up ISPAT
(Indian Street Performers’ Association Trust) in 2013 to revive the traditional
street performances but it can only be beneficial to a certain extent as long
as there are laws which criminalize these performances. It will also need to be
coupled with positive action by the government authorities to recognize these
performances and encourage them in both the urban and rural settings.